panzwami

Hence the "as given." It is, of course, possible to research Martian atmospheric density and gravitational strength, and then use those values to calculate the actual answer, but that information is not included in the original question. Thus, *as given*, I don't think there's an answer to the question. Matt -----

look at it like this.... Same race, same 90-mile-long track. He does the first lap at 90 mph, meaning that *he traveled 90 miles in one hour (miles per HOUR)*. If he then does the second lap at 270 mph, he will complete the 90-mile lap in 20 minutes (270mph * 1/3 hour = 90 miles). So, the total time that it took him to complete two laps, for a total of 180 miles driven, is one hour (first lap) + 20 minutes (second lap), for a total of 80 minutes driving time. 180 miles / 80 minutes = 135 mph average speed. The thing that you are not considering here is that the track itself is of fixed length. If the track was of variable length, then you would be correct. Consider: First lap, 90-mile-long track, 90 mph = 90 miles in one hour If the track were then tripled in length, to 270-miles-long, for the second lap, and he traveled at 270 mph, then = 270 miles in one hour. Thus, he would have driven 360 miles total (90+270) in two hours total (one hour for each lap), giving an overall average speed for the trip of 360 miles / 2 hours = 180mph. BUT, because the track is static at 90-miles-long, he would have to complete two laps (180 total miles) in one hour to average 180mph. But since the original question stated that he did the first lap at 90mph, we therefore know that he took one hour to do his first lap, and thus cannot make up the difference. Make sense? Matt -----

Yeah, 180 miles per hour, by definition, has a concrete time limit. Matt -----

The answer will have to do with the proportion between the change of the atmospheric density, and that of the planetary gravity. If the gravitational decrease is only very slight, but the air is only 1% as dense as it is on Earth, much larger parachutes will be needed to react with the fewer air molecules. Conversely, if the atmosphere is only slightly thinner than on Earth, but the gravity is substantially weaker, smaller parachutes will be needed. I don't think there's a definitive answer to the question as given.... Matt -----

He would have to travel infinitely fast.... Say it were a two lap race, on a 90 mile long track. He does the first lap at 90 miles an hour, so it takes him one hour. But in order to average 180 miles an hour over the entire race (2 laps, 180 total miles), he would have to travel 180 miles in one hour (180 miles / one hour = 180mph). But....since he already spent exactly one hour to complete the first lap, he has exactly 0 seconds to complete the second lap. Thus, infinite speed is required. Matt -----

Duffman (with hand on hips): "Duffman is THRUSTING, in the direction of the problem." Duffman: "Duffman can never die, only the actors who portray him..." Matt -----

DO: Pull. Flare. DON'T: Bonk. Matt -----

actually, my team won the scrambles at Williston last year, and all four of us has between 200 and 300 jumps. We were lucky in that we all had identical fall rates, and were all capable enough RW fliers to handle the small movements required by the draw (star - stairstep diamond - zigzag). There were other teams which had one member with a few thousand jumps, but they were balanced out by someone with 25 or 30 jumps, and overall weren't very successful. All four people gotta be in place for the point to count. Those other teams often had three people right in place, and a fourth carving circles around the formation as he tried to stop sliding. Made for some really funny video, tho. Matt -----

Judge: "Mr. Hutz, do you have any evidence at all?" Hutz: "We have lots of hearsay and conjecture, those are kinds of evidence..." Ad execs: "A pirate!?! Well, that's certainly not the image we want for Long John Silvers." Homer: "Ohhh, what am I gonna do with 10,000 Angel ashtrays?" Bart: "I could take up smoking." Homer: "You damn well better." Bart: "You could brush your teeth with milkshakes!" Dr. Nick: "Hey, did you go to Hollywood Upstairs Medical College, too?" Dr. Nick (during surgery): "The knee bone's connected to the something. The something's connected to the red thing. The red thing's connected to my wristwatch. Uh-oh." Troy McClure: Oh, hi, I'm Troy McClure. You might remember me from such self-help videos as 'Smoke Yourself Thin' and 'Get Confident, Stupid'. Lionel Hutz: "Now don't you worry, Mrs. Simpson. We've drawn Judge Snyder." Marge: "Is that bad?" Lionel Hutz: "Well, he's had it in for me ever since I kinda ran over his dog." Marge: "You did?" Lionel Hutz: "Well, replace the word 'kinda' with the word 'repeatedly' and the word 'dog' with the word 'son'." and probably my favorite (and the source of my sig): Trent: "So where to eat? You like Thai?" Homer (as Max Power): "Tie good. You like shirt?" Matt -----

I had a funny thing happen when I was carrying my rig through security at Hartsfield Airport in Atlanta. I had my rig (no CYPRES) in a gear bag with absolutely nothing else in it, just to keep from complicating things. When I put it through the x-ray machine, not only did the screener stop to take an extra look at what she was seeing on the screen, but she turned around to call for her supervisor, who then called for _his_ supervisor, who then came over and *completely closed that security line*. They stood there staring at the screen for several minutes, literally scratching their heads, before the super-supervisor grabbed my bag and called me over to the inspection table. He unzipped the gear bag and asked me what "this thing" was. I explained to him that it was a parachute, which the TSA has listed as a non-threatening device (according to the TSA directive, which I had in my hand). He asked why I would need a parachute on a commercial flight (as if I'm gonna shout "5 left" and jump out), so I told him that I'm a skydiver and don't want this extremely important piece of gear to be placed at the mercy of baggage handlers. At this point, he gave me a very suspicious look and asked if I could produce any credentials. I handed him my plane ticket, but that didn't convince him. So I handed him my driver's license, but he still wasn't convinced. Finally, I did the only thing I could think of and pulled out my USPA card. He looked at it for a couple seconds, handed me back my ticket/license/USPA card, zipped up my gear bag, told me to "have a nice flight", and walked back to the security line to start dealing with all the pissed off people who had been stuck when he closed down the line. USPA card - don't leave home without it. Matt -----

yeah, I had a guy track the wrong direction away from the helicopter and open directly beneath me. He got turned around during freefall and tracked 180 degrees from the direction he should have tracked. I dunno if this was directly related to the helicopter itself, or just to the fact that he was inexperienced and just made a mistake, but it's still something for which to watch out. Matt -----

no. Any other questions? Matt -----

I saw a guy once go up for a freefly jump in a pair of nylon running/warmup pants that he had put on *over* his harness. Needless to say, as soon as he hit the air, they fell right down, and he spent the entire skydive in a sort of cannonball, trying to keep his pants on. Opening was uneventful, but there were no winds and he had a fairly fast canopy, so it was particularly funny watching him try to run out his landing with his pants around his ankles. Matt -----

Are you strapping in tight enough? I know at first it seems like a bad suggestion at first, but once upon a time I had the same problems. I didn't tighten the leg straps very much because I didn't want to be uncomfortable in the harness, but they kept killing my legs. Turns out the extra slack I was leaving in the straps was tightening up all at once on opening, which was why it hurt so bad. I started making sure they were fully tight before I jumped, so there's no extra jerk on opening. And yes, student rigs are rather uncomfortable. When you buy your own rig, hopefully you'll get one that's sized for you. Matt -----

you're basically correct about the wackers. If you look at a picture of the record 300-way, the bands of people around the outside of the formation are the wackers. Corking is when a freeflier suddenly slows down and shoots up out of the freefly formation. It's caused by either a controlled or uncontrolled transition from a freefly body position (sit, headdown, stand, etc.), which falls very fast, to an RW body position, which falls much more slowly. Matt -----

hell, I'd settle for just the Phalanx system. Seagull hunting anyone? Matt -----

Definitely the few seconds between the time I realized I had hooked way too low, and the time I actually hit the ground. Everything was in slow motion, so I had a good second or so really to think about what I had done and how much it was going to hurt. I would bet a number of people here have stories about low hook turns... Matt -----

I dunno about large ice blocks or heavy rains, but my canopy opened and flew fine when I got caught in some light sprinkles. Just be careful jumping through rain - the pointy ends of the rain drops really hurt. Matt -----

Why wasn't this a bright move on your part? Did you actually think it was a bad move, or did someone tell you it was bad? How many jumps did you have with that "A" license? Matt -----

Mine was a little below 1800 in similar circumstances. It was an "all you can jump" boogie, but the weather was crap, so people were itching to get on anything that was flying. Best we got all day was 2k, but they still flew a bunch of loads. Matt -----

I'm pretty sure if he owns the airplane and the land, and gives his permission to use the land as a DZ, I think you're ok. 'Course, you'll want to check with the FAA and read the FAR's to make sure there's not something else involved here. Note: I don't work for the FAA, nor do I have any idea what I'm talking about, so don't listen to a single word of it. Matt -----

Sure, I'm game. The competition jumps tend to be a little more work and a little less play, so there are usually a good number of fun jumps that are put together. Once the competing is over, the hoops, rafts, etc. tend to start popping up. I'm hoping there will be a good mix between RW fliers and belly fliers, 'cuz I'd like to get some good hybrid stuff together. Matt -----

yeah, I thought that sounded familiar. Still a funny story, tho. Matt -----

What's the lowest altitude AGL that you've ever exited an aircraft? Was the exit planned that low, or was there an emergency that caused it? (by the way, I'm talking about sport jumps. I know military jumps are usually done pretty low.) Edited to add: Did you go out on your main, or your reserve? Matt -----